University entrance exams in Europe

Medicine, dentistry and veterinary medicine: since 2025/26 there has been no traditional entrance test. Instead, there is an "open semester" (semestre aperto, often called the "filter semester" in the media). You enrol in the first semester, attend classes in three subjects and take exams in them. The results are used to build a national ranking.

In 2026/27:

• registration on the Universitaly portal ran until 3 August 2026, and the fee had to be paid by 6 August,
• classes run from 1 September to around the end of November,
• the subjects are physics, chemistry and introductory biochemistry, and biology; each exam has 31 questions (21 multiple-choice and 10 fill-in-the-blank) and lasts 50 minutes,
• exam dates: 10 December 2026 and 11 January 2027,
• you choose at least 10 universities and a back-up programme.

For other programmes with a limited number of places, tests are organised by the universities – you'll find the dates and topics in the call for applications (bando) for each programme.